French court hears Agent Orange case against chemical firms
Huynh Diep, VOV's correspondent in France -
(VOVWORLD) - A French court opened a hearing Monday on a lawsuit filed by Vietnamese-French Tran Thi To Nga against 26 multinational companies, including Dow Chemical and Bayer-Monsanto, for producing and selling chemical toxins that were sprayed by the US army in Vietnam, causing serious harm to her and millions of other victims.
 Tran To Nga (C) at a press conference on the hearing on January 21, 2021. (Photo: Huynh Diep) |
Supporters of Nga, several French politicians, and representatives of Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV), attended the hearing at the Crown Court of Evry city, on the outskirts of Paris. Nga was represented by three pro bono lawyers.
"Nga’s lawyers made strong, precise, and informative arguments, while solicitors of Hercules INC and Monsanto came up with arguments to dismiss the court’s authority. Some of the arguments were debatable but some had very bad intentions," said environmental activist and European Parliament member Marie Toussaint.
 The lawsuit draws particular attention of French media. (Photo: Huynh Diep) |
"I don’t know where this will go, but several French newspapers have said that this is a historic lawsuit, so I think I’ve made great progress," Nga said, "I hope today marks the beginning of justice for me and other victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam and the world."
The Monday hearing will be followed by a parade through the center of Paris on Saturday to support Nga.
 An article on the case on French newspaper Humanité. (Photo: Screen shot) |
Nga graduated from a Hanoi university in 1966 and became a war correspondent of the former Liberation News Agency, part of the Vietnam News Agency. She worked in some of the most heavily AO/dioxin affected areas in southern Vietnam, such as Cu Chi, Ben Cat, and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, ultimately experiencing contamination herself.
Of her three children, the first died of heart defects and the second suffers from a blood disease. She has also contracted a number of acute diseases.
Huynh Diep, VOV's correspondent in France